What Now?
by BobWhite
Summary: She didn’t have a place to stay. She grabbed her daughter and ran for her life. Nina's niece comes into town for help. Will she be able to protect her.
1. The Pain Stops Now

**Author's Note:**

She didn't have a place to stay. She grabbed her daughter and ran for her life. This is the life of Angel Nekana De la Pena and her daughter Shoshana Manuela De la Pena. Angel has been abused by her husband four seven long years. She has had enough and needs to get her daughter out of a situation that started out bad and grew intensively worse.

**The Pain Stops Now:**

"That's enough! I've had enough of this Hulio. I want out of this marriage or I will press charges."  
"You won't be pressing any charges if you can't speak. Where is Shoshana?"_ he yelled grabbing my arm._

"That is none of your FUCKING business! You'll never get any where near her. I'm taking her and leaving. If you dare follow us, I'll kill you myself. Now let me go."

_I felt the resounding smack of his hand hit my face and then I was on the ground, Hulio's foot kicking me over and over again. He punched me harder with every punch, kicked me harder with every kick until I was unconscious. Then he left as fast as he had come. I picked myself up and called the local bar about twenty minutes later. The bartender said that he was in the bar and that he would not say anything. I could trust him because he knew what Hulio did to me and because he was my boss._

"James it's me, Angel."

"Oh, hey Angel baby. What can I do for you?"

"Is Hulio at the bar?"

"Yeah he just walked in. probably going to be here for a couple hours. What happened?"

"I'm leaving. I'm headed to my aunt's house up in Everwood, Colorado. If Hulio asks where I am, don't tell him. He doesn't even know that I have any family living in Everwood. If you need to get a hold of me, call collect. Or I'll call you and give you the number you can reach me at."

"That's fine with me. Do you need any money?"

"Send Alana over right away. I need bus money."

"No need, I'll send her over with my truck. I'll also send Joey with her so she can get back. Use the truck as long as you need to. You should've done this a long time ago, Ang. But I'm glad you're goin' now. Look call whenever you need to talk nd I promise you I'll call if Hulio is on his way up to find you."

"Thanks James. You're the best boss ever."

"Hey, you've worked for me for almost ten years, you're like family. If I could protect you, I would, but Hulio knows where I live."

"Yeah thanks, look, I'm packing now and it shouldn't take more than three days to get to where I'm going."

"I'll talk to you later Ang. And I'll make sure Hulio doesn't get on your trail as fast as I think he will."

"Okay, bye. Tell Alana she ain't aloud to tell anyone where I'm going."

"You know Alana is like a sister to you and she looks up to you to be a role model. She was also wondering why you hadn't left before now."

"You know that answer James."

"Yes I do. I'll keep him away as long as I can."

"Talk to you later."

"Bye Ang."

_Twenty minutes later Alana and Joey were at the house helping me pack everything into James' truck. Joey gave me the keys and Alana hugged me goodbye. Joey gave me his cell phone number and I got in the truck. Shoshana was already in the back of the truck, asleep. I started the truck and waved goodbye. We left the town and headed for the interstate. Once on the interstate, I headed towards Everwood, hoping above everything that Nina would take us in._


	2. Everwood, Colorado

**Everwood, Colorado:**

_I drove into Everwood, listening to Que Hiciste by Jennifer Lopez._

**Ayer nos dos soñabamos con un mundo perfecto  
Ayer a nuestros labios les sobraban las palabras  
Porque en los ojos nos espiabamos el alma  
y la verdad no vacilaba en tu mirada**

**Ayer nos no metimos conquistar el mundo entero  
Ayer tu me juraste que ese amor seria eterno  
Por que una vez equivocarse suficiente  
Para aprender lo que es amar sinceramente**

_Shoshana was awake and looking out the window as we drove into to town. I looked for Nina's diner._

**¿Que Hiciste? Hoy destruiste con tu orgullo la esperanza  
Hoy empañaste con tu furia mi mirada  
Borraste toda nuestra historia con tu rabia  
Y confundiste tanto amor que te entregaba  
Con un permiso para si romperme el alma**

**¿Que Hiciste? Nos obligaste a destruir las madrugadas  
Y nuestras noches las ahogaron tus palabras  
Mis ilusiones acabaron con tus farzas  
Se te olvido que era el amor lo que importaba  
Y con tus manos derrumbaste nuestra casa**

_When I saw it, Shoshana said that she was hungry. I looked for a place to park but couldn't find one._

**Mañana que amanezca un dia nuevo en mi universo  
Mañana no vere tu nombre escrito entre mis versos  
No escuchare palabras de arrepentimiento  
Ignorare sin pena tu remordimiento**

**Mañana olvidare que ayer yo fui tu fiel amante  
Mañana ni siquiera habra razones para odiarte  
Yo borrare todos tus sueños en mis sueños  
Que el viento arrastre para siempre tus recuerdos**

_I turned around and parked next to the train station, which had been transformed into a doctor's office._

**¿Que Hiciste? Hoy destruiste con tu orgullo la esperanza  
Hoy empañaste con tu furia mi mirada  
Borraste toda nuestra historia con tu rabia  
Y confundiste tanto amor que te entregaba  
Hoy no permito para ti romperme el alma**

**¿Que Hiciste? Nos obligaste a destruir las madrugadas  
Y nuestras noches las ahogaron tus palabras  
Mis ilusiones acabaron con tus farzas  
Se te olvido que era el amor lo que importaba  
Y con tus manos derrumbaste nuestra casa**

_I didn't want to get out of the truck. My bruises were still very visible. Shoshana yelled that she was hungry again so I finally turned the truck off and got out of the car. I grabbed my purse, unbuckled Shoshana and took her out of the truck. Shutting and locking the truck, I grabbed Shoshana's hand and walked across the road. I opened the door to the diner and every head turned toward us._

"Looks like we got new meat in town," _Dr. Abott said._

"I'm looking for Nina. Nina Feeney. Does anyone know where I can find her?"

"I'm right here. How can I help you…?"

"My name is Angel Nekana De la Pena. And this is my daughter Shoshana Manuela De la Pena. And you are my aunt. My parents died when I was two and I was adopted by a nice couple in Virginia. Do you remember me?"

"I remember a little girl with pig tails. Didn't you have black hair back then?"

"It's always been brown. I need your help."

"Well sit down, your daughter looks hungry. What did you do, get up in the middle of the night and drive here?"

"My boss gave me his truck and we got out of town as soon as I could."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"My husband and I had an argument and I had to get out."

"Looks like you had more than an argument," _Dr. Brown said._

"He doesn't mean it; it's just that he gets mad sometimes. But this, this last time he went too far."

"How far did he go?" _Nina asked._

"He pulled a knife on me and then beat the shit out of me. I called my boss and told him I'd give him a ring to tell him the number of where I was staying. You wouldn't be able to give me a job would you? I mean if not I could go a town over and get a job at one of the bars there. That was my last job. I've worked in the same bar for the past ten years. James is like a father to me and the waitresses, bartenders, and bouncers are like family. They knew what Hulio was doing but because I never pressed charges, they couldn't do anything."

"Well you can crash at my house for as long as you want."

"Thanks Nina. Maybe we can talk more later. Get to know each other better. And I need to enroll Shoshana into school. James said he would send her transcripts up from Virginia."

"Well we can worry about that when winter break is over. I'm sure you'll need time to get yourself settled. So what would Shoshana like to eat?"

"I would love to have a burger with pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, Thousand Island, mayo, ranch, and some fries with ketchup, mustard, ranch, mayo and Thousand Island."

"Umm… I don't think we can make hat here." _Nina stated._

"Momma can. Whenever I visited her at the bar, she'd go back into the kitchen and make me one. She always knew what I liked."

"You let her go into the bar."

"She always came in with Joey. Joey knew who she was and she was always in the employee lounge until I got off work or until Hulio came to pick her up."

"Well let's get her something to eat then. Looks like you got a job here Angel."

"Thanks Nina. I could really use the money. I have one of James' credit cards because I cut all of mine up."

_I went into the kitchen and made up Shoshana's burger with her fries. Then I made myself up a sandwich and brought it all out to the bar and sat down with Shoshana. Everyone looked at Shoshana's burger and then at Nina._

"What do you call that burger?" _Edna Harper asked._

"Mommy named it the, what did you name it mommy?"

"It's called Natividad. It's what my mother used to call me when I got into trouble."


	3. Settling In

**Settling In:**

_Nina let me work as part-time cook in her Diner & I enrolled Shoshana in Everwood's Elementary School. I gave James a call & gave him both Nina's home phone number & the Diner's number. I had moved all my stuff into the guest bedroom & had set up a small bed on the floor next to the window for Shana. We'd been in Everwood for about four weeks when I got a call from James. Nina answered the phone._

"Hello, this is Nina Feeney speaking. How can I help you?"

"Is Angel there? This is James, her boss."

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen. Let me get her."

"Thanks."

_Nina came into the kitchen._

"James is on the phone."

_I left the kitchen & answered the phone._

"Hello James. How's everything at the bar?"

"Good, how are you guys' doin'?"

"We're doin okay."

"You're parents came in asking for you. But because Hulio was there, I just gave them a look."

"Did they get what you were trying to tell them from 'the look'?"

"Oh yeah. They figured you'd finally left Hulio and would call once you were safe."

"Oh, God. I totally forgot about calling mom & dad. I was too busy thinking about how I was going to be safe. Did Hulio suspect anything?"

"Nope. I made sure I was pouring your dad a drink so he wouldn't suspect anything."

"Thanks James. I don't know what I would have done if he figured out where I was. Tell my parents I'll call them when I can. But make sure you call them & tell them, in the lounge if you know what I mean."

"Actually, Alana pressed charges on Hulio so now he's not even allowed in to come to the bar anymore."

"Why would Alana press charges against my husband? Wait a minute; she went out with him, didn't she."

"No, no, no. He came in really drunk from another bar and grabbed her arm, tight. He pulled a gun on her."

"Is she okay?"

"She's a little frightened but is getting over it. Joey grabbed the gun before he could do any serious damage. I called the cops and when they asked if she wanted to press charges, she said 'FUCK yes'! He got a couple nights in jail, but that was enough time for Alana to get out of town. I told her to go to you so she should be arriving any time now."

"Thanks James. I'll get her settled into the motel. Let my parents know that I'll call them as soon as I can. I got to go. I've got a customer waiting for food."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later."

_I hung up the phone and went to the counter. Before I could get behind the counter, I recognized Alana sitting there. John, one of the bartenders was with her._

"Alana, John. Long time no see. How are you feeling Alana?"

"You just got off the phone with James didn't you?"

"Yes. Look I can get guys' settled in at the motel that is if you're staying John."

"I'm staying. I can't leave Alana here knowing that Hulio just got out of jail."

"I'm sorry for his behavior, Alana. If I'd known he was going to pull a gun on you, I would have brought the gun with me. He was that mad that I left?"

"He's been drinking non-stop ever since you left and he's gone home with just about every hooker in LV every night since you left. We haven't said a word about where you are so don't worry he doesn't know you're here. "Although you did miss the Big Race just outside of LV last week."

"I know. And I bet everyone missed me because I wasn't racing."

"Yes, but the whole Racing Community knew that Hulio did to you so they knew you'd gotten out."

"That's comforting. Look I got to get back to work. What can I get you?"

"How about two Natividad's."

"Coming right up!"

_I went into the kitchen and made the burgers and brought them back out. I went back into the kitchen to make other orders and let them alone until they were ready to be checked into the Motel._


End file.
